Theoretical investigation into the formation mechanism and mitigation measures of short pitch rail corrugation in resilient tracks of metros

Abstract

Severe rail corrugation occurs at both the curved and tangent tracks of the metro in Shanghai, where resilient rail fasteners are used to reduce ground-borne vibration by isolating the transmission of track vibration to the infrastructure. The wavelength of corrugation is about 25–30 mm. It could be assumed that this short pitch rail corrugation is caused by the pinned–pinned resonance. However, rail fasteners with low stiffness were believed to be able to suppress the pinned–pinned resonance thereby resulting in corrugation. To investigate the formation mechanism of this specific rail corrugation, a multiple wheel–rail interaction model is used to calculate the wheel–rail dynamic forces caused due to the multiple wheel–rail interactions, which are considered to play a major role in the formation of corrugation. Then the influences on wear and corrugation growth are analyzed in terms of both amplitude and phase of the wheel–rail dynamic forces. By combining the properties of multiple wheel–rail interactions with their influences on wear and corrugation, the growth rates of rail corrugation at different wavelengths (frequencies) are studied to obtain the characteristic wavelength (frequency), at which the highest corrugation growth rate appears. The obtained characteristic wavelength is in good agreement with observation in the practice of Shanghai metro. It is found that the wave reflection from the wheels on the rail is responsible for the short pitch rail corrugation in the resilient tracks. Finally, tuned rail dampers are applied in the multiple wheel–rail interaction models to investigate their effects on rail corrugation growth. The simulation results show that use of tuned rail dampers is effective in suppressing the short pitch rail corrugation occurring at resilient tracks.